Vintage round trip for Charity

The Castle Vintage Club will start the Annual 3-day Vintage Run from Taghmon village in Wexford next Friday morning May 4 at 11 am and take in Kilkenny and Carlow before returning home on Monday.

The route is as follows - leave Taghmon and head out to Ross, Inistioge, Thomastown, Bennettsbridge and then on to Kilkenny city where the group beds down for the night.

On Saturday they leave Kilkenny at approximately 11.30am and head off to Portlaoise hopefully meeting lots of people on the way.

Sunday morning they start the return journey and leave Portlaoise at 11.30 and head to Carlow via Athy.

Bank Holiday Monday we start the final leg of our journey, leaving Carlow at 11.30 and heading to Bunclody. Then on to Enniscorthy, Wexford and back to Taghmon.

The two very worthy charities they are supporting this year are The Tracie Lawlor Trust for Cystic Fibrosis and Cancer Research. If any person with CF would like to contact us please visit www.tracielawlortrust.com. We will have collectors with us on our journey and your support would be appreciated.

Quotes & Facts

The architect who built the White House in Washington, D.C., James Hoban, was raised on the Earl of Desart’s estate in Cuffesgrange, near Callan in Co. Kilkenny.Film star George Clooney’s great-great-grandfather was baptised Nicholas Clooney in Windgap church, Kilkenny, on July 23, 1829.

Nowadays, Kilkenny Castle is effectively three-sided. One of the four walls - and one of the great round drum towers - has disappeared over time.

Where did it go? Well, the Eastern wall and the North-Eastern tower were blown up during the 1650 Cromwellian siege of Ireland.

The gravestone of Daniel O’Connell in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin is made from Kilkenny black marble, and the stone was also used in the construction of Cobh Cathedral in Cork

One of the most instantly recognised buildings in Ireland, Kilkenny Castle has been an important site since Strongbow constructed the first castle, probably a wooden structure, in the 12th century.
William the Earl Marshall (Strongbow's son-in-law) built the first stone castle on the site, which was completed in 1213. This was a square-shaped castle with towers at each corner; three of these original four towers survive to this day

"To understand Kilkenny's unique character one should retire from the busy streets to the lovely Castle Park and, standing within the shadow of the ancient pile, contemplate the great jumble of roof-tops, old and young, which tumble down to the quiet-flowing river beneath. Here dove-grey spires and battlemented towers proclaim a city old in Christian living and wise in human experience. One can feel the heartbeat of an ancient civilised community."